MURYOKO
Kanji for Muryoko

'Infinite Light'

Journal of Shin Buddhism

John Paraskevopoulos

The infinite

The traditional epithets of Amida Buddha are 'Infinite Light' and 'Eternal Life'. 'Light' denotes wisdom and 'Life' compassion. Amida's attributes are also said to convey limitless space and limitless time. In other words, Amida is the ultimate reality which is unbounded in every sense. But this reality is no mere abstraction. Although Amida's qualities are, in a sense, inconceivable to ordinary thinking they are, at the same time, endowed with the deepest and richest personality. The ultimate reality in Buddhism, also known as Nirvana or the Dharmakaya, is greater than anything that can be imagined - it transcends every form and every conception imaginable. Yet, despite this, it is also fully immanent; in other words, it dwells at the very heart of reality - deep within all people and all things. There is nothing that is not embraced by this reality. Amida, then, is infinite in every respect: infinite life, infinite depth, infinite compassion. How does all this have a bearing on our spiritual life ?

A common misconception is that Amida Buddha and his Pure Land are 'out there', somehow separate from us and our ordinary lives. Although the Sutras traditionally represent these realities are objectified, it is important to bear in mind that they are not completely separate from us. Of course, in one very important sense, there is a well-nigh fathomless gulf between us and Amida (at least from our ordinary, unenlightened perspective). If this were not so there would be nothing to aspire to; there would be no liberating refuge from the manifold misery and imperfections of this world. The Pure Land is 'pure' precisely because it is untainted by delusion, suffering and blind passion - it is none other than the realm of Enlightenment. On the other hand, however, Mahayana Buddhism sees reality as one - the divisions and separateness we impose on the world are ultimately illusions generated by defiled karma. The Dharmakaya is the true essence of all things, the very heart of true reality. Such a realization is the sole privilege of a Buddha who sees things with perfect clarity and dispassion. Nevertheless, the Buddha himself taught that all things, from the smallest grub to the vastest supernova, are manifestations of this one reality which appears to us in the compassionate guise of Amida Buddha.

In this sense, we can say that the Buddha is always close to us; always with us even during those times when we feel most estranged and distant from him. Amida dwells at the very core of our despair and anxiety - indeed these very circumstances often provide the most powerful opportunities for the disclosure of his compassionate presence. Any sense of alienation and abandonment are solely from our side. Amida Buddha never abandons us for, beneath the thick mire of ignorance in which we wallow, he stands forth as our true nature through which we are connected to all things. This is also known as Buddha-Nature which we fleetingly experience as shinjin and which we fully realize when full enlightenment eventually dawns at the time of death. It is this encounter with Buddha-Nature which is the true foundation of all human happiness and well-being.

Although Amida Buddha is an infinite and ineffable reality, there is one very important sense in which he is accessible. In order to impart his qualities on ordinary, benighted sentient beings, the Buddha 'condescends', so to speak, by assuming a form with which we can engage and commune with all that he is. That form is his Name: Namu Amida Butsu. Through his Name, the Buddha is able to confer his mind of wisdom and compassion to all of us. In other words, his mind of true reality arises within our own limited and ego-bound minds through the mindful invocation of his Name (nembutsu). This experience, also known as the awakening of faith, is the seed for our present illumination and joy as well as for our future Buddhahood. Through the Name, the infinite assumes a finite form which, in turn, enables us to attain the infinite from which all things arise and from which we have strayed during our long and sorrowful sojourn in the realm of samsara.

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